Meeting the Family
by faroffdream
Summary: Harry is in for a big surprise when he meets Sirius new girlfriend...can he handle her?


Harry Potter screamed like a girl. Though that might not be politically correct anymore, how else would you explain the high pitched, loud, echoing noise coming from his mouth? Or so Harry thought. But he had never expected to open his bathroom door and come face to face with a pale-skinned, freckled, flame haired woman. And as an adolescent almost 15 year old boy, he couldn't help but notice she was wearing very little. Very little being wrapped in a small white towel. She looked as surprised to suddenly see him as he was to see her. Both faces quickly grew red, both eyes widened and mouths gaped. Harry quickly stuttered out an apology, "uh...sorry". Then he stood for another moment before saying, "I have to go, sorry, for, well, you know...I better, ah, leave...right now." When he paused another moment he saw her quirk an eyebrow and a small smile tugged at her mouth. He blushed beat red then turned and rushed from the bathroom. A minute later, he was back, quickly slamming the door shut and tossing out another apology. He hurried down the hall, confused, toward his bedroom, until he came to an abrupt halt. He had no idea who she was or why she was here. Nobody was living here besides Sirius and himself, so he changed direction and headed towards Sirius's room.

Harry pounded on the door and waited for a muffled, "come in", before he burst through the doors. Sirius was calmly sitting on the bed, folding laundry into separate piles and looking at him enquiringly.

"What's the matter, Harry?"

"There's a woman! In our bathroom! And she wasn't wearing almost anything and I don't know who she is or anything, so I thought you might know, or might want me to ...get rid of her?" Harry trailed off at the end, blushing again. 

"You walked in on her, didn't you? Oh my...that's, that's..." Sirius burst out laughing, one hand clutching his stomach for several moments before he finally straightened up.

" That's Willow, Willow Rosenberg. Remember? She probably came by a little early for tonight and decided to hop in the shower. She can get pretty messy at work, you know." He continues to chuckle for another minute, then looked up to see Harry glaring at him.

" No, I don't remember or know anything. Who is she? What is she early for?" Harry placed his fisted hands on his hips and kept up the glare.

"I didn't tell you? Oh, I must be getting old, this is quite hilarious. Willow owns a muggle shop over near the fountain in the square. I invited her to dinner tonight."

"And the reason why is?" Harry was frustrated by his God father's rambling by now and gritted his teeth.

" Why? Oh, silly me...Willow is who you might be getting a part time job with this summer, she could use the help. She's also my girlfriend." Then Sirius went back to tossing a pair of socks into the sock pile and picking up a pair of jeans to be folded. Harry paused a moment, the words registering very slowly. A job? Sirius's...girlfriend?

"WHAT?"

Harry Potter was red. Red faced, red eyed, and red hot mad. But the moment he looked in the mirror and realized just how red he was, he focused on calming down. He didn't want to be calm; he just didn't want to be red anymore- because SHE was red. No, he hadn't even met her yet, unless you counted the bathroom run in, but he knew right now that he didn't like her. After all, she was invading his home, ruining the first time he ever got to spend the summer with his Godfather just by being here. And, no, she hadn't done anything-yet. But Harry knew, he just knew she was trouble with a capital T.

He moved from his room and peered around the corner, looking for the red haired witch, scouting out his territory. It was just so unfair. Sirius must be under some spell, curse, anything, otherwise he would never have brought her here in the first place. Harry waited for another moment next to the wall before creeping out into the hallway. He paced quietly, wishing for invisibility cloak, towards the door of his Godfather's bedroom and the peeked through the crack. Immediately his eyes bulged and his face filled again with burning red. He jerked back, bringing a hand to clasp over his mouth. Kissing and all that other stuff…she still had barely any clothes on and now Sirius had been stripped of his shirt too. Harry knew what happened between lovers, he, after all, was a hormonal teenager himself and had had a crush before, but he certainly had never seen it. He didn't even want to know that his godfather did stuff like that. Harry backed away from the door, then turned and scampered down the hallway toward the kitchen. He hoped he hadn't made any noise, but he had practice at this espionage stuff from his years at Hogwarts.

Once in the kitchen, Harry took deep breaths and tried to get the red to leave his face once again. He pulled open the fridge and grabbed the milk, bringing it to his lips and gulping down several mouthfuls. Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, he set the milk on the counter then turned and rummaged through some cupboards, finally finding Sirius's favorite box of snacks. The box had a picture of the zebra cakes and the words little Debbie printed on it. He emptied the entire box on the counter before stuffing several in his pockets. He turned from the kitchen, leaving his mess there because he could and they deserved, and then walked toward the front door. Still barefoot, he walked out the front door and sat on the steps, opening up the cakes and stuffing them into his mouth. He knew nobody could see him, for before they had rented the little house on the outskirts of London Sirius had put a protection and concealing spell on the place. Harry and Sirius were quite famous, especially in the wizarding world and neither had any desire to be swamped by rabid fans.

Harry reached a hand up and touched his forehead, rubbing his scar back and forth for a moment. Luckily, it hadn't ached in quite some time. But Harry knew that coming around the corner was still more fights and duels as soon as he left this place. Which was why he hadn't wanted to leave…until now. What in the world was Sirius thinking, bringing that evil-looking shrew into their home, their summer sanctuary? It was just crazy. But Harry could wait, be a little more patient, and perhaps Sirius would tire of her awful company and ship her out of here just as quick as you could say 'Crucio'. In the meantime, he needed to distract them so they wouldn't be doing anymore of that goofy naked stuff. He stood up, brushed off the crumbs and crept back into the house, already plotting…

Harry moved through his room, collecting things from the shelves, wondering if he could pull a few magical spells off without Sirius knowing, But that meant he had to sneak his wand from Sirius's room and put it back before he found out. No, this time he would stick to the muggle way of things; he pulled out an old potions beaker then tossed it aside. Next came the dirty sneakers, ratted jeans and a holey shirt from his closet. Should he dress awful, act rotten, and scare her away? Naaa…then Sirius would get serious and angry with him. In fact, none of these ideas were coming along. He didn't want to look bad, couldn't use magic, and was fresh out of genius pranks. Mostly because he never had to do any pranks, that was definitely Malfoy's job. So Harry decided to be himself and make her look bad. She was probably horrible dealing with teenagers and wouldn't even try to get along with him. As soon as Sirius saw that, he would boot her out, quick as a wink. Harry determined to be content with this and laid down on his bed, arms behind his head. He blew large bubbles with his bubbalicous and then popped them. This continued for several minutes while Harry thought.

There was a knock on the door, a soft tap that made Harry instantly aware. Sirius tended to pound, which meant the person at the door was probably HER. He answered, "What?" but it caused him to lose his concentration and a bubble he was blowing splattered all over his face. A moment later the door slowly opened and Willow stuck her had in. Her eyes got big and she brought a hand to her mouth before she began to giggle. She had a cute laugh, but Harry stopped that thought the moment it went through his mind. He stared at her, trying to feel resentment that she was laughing at him- and trying to stop the laughter from coming out his own mouth. She stopped giggling a moment later, and put a hand on the door, blushing.

"Let me get something to help you clean that off." Willow disappeared from the threshold. Harry sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He began pulling some of the gum off his nose and cheeks, wincing when a chunk pulled at his baby hairs on his jaw. Willow returned, carrying a wet washrag and a dry towel. She walked over and used the rag on his chins, then cheeks and nose. He let her do it, not liking the baby treatment but knowing his hands were already sticky with gum. After getting the goop off, she patted his face dry and took a step back.

"Sirius sent me up to tell you to clean up the mess in the kitchen 'cause he's going to start dinner and he doesn't appreciate you eating all his cakes, which actually I know he had a spare box in one of his dresser draws. And I can't believe the first time I see you I am almost naked and then I can't help but laugh at the gum everywhere, I know somebody who used to do that on purpose just to get a laugh. Oh, I'm sorry, I am just babbly when I am nervous, and, and…all that." Now she stepped back, her face bright cherry colored. Harry just gaped at her, amazed she was still able to breathe after talking so much, so fast. Was this girl for real?

She tossed the gummy rag in his garbage, then headed out the door, still blushing and holding the hand towel.

"I'll just put this back in the bathroom and go help Sirius. You might want to wash your hands before dinner." Then Willow practically dove out the door. Harry moved a little slower, standing and stretching, feeling confused. Why was she acting so…girly? Not exactly evil witch material. It must be a ruse. After all, she did practically order him to wash his hands. What a jerk…?

Harry Potter moved down the stared slowly, cautiously, hoping to catch a few words of the conversation between Sirius and Willow in the kitchen. Having no luck, he moved down the rest of the stairs and towards the kitchen door. They had stopped talking and Harry didn't think that was a good thing, at least in his eyes, so he wanted to interrupt as soon as possible. The instant he stepped into the kitchen, he heard Willow's giggles and Sirius's deeper laugh. He fumed in the doorway until Sirius looked up and gestured him over.

"Hey, Harry, get stuck? Come over here and set the table." Willow turned to look at Harry and smiled sweetly. Harry thought there must be something up her sleeve, she couldn't be for real. He took down two plates and two glasses, set them on the small round table, then turned and grabbed two forks from the silverware drawer. Sirius hadn't noticed the table setting yet; he was bent over the stove, but Willow noticed. She apparently didn't feel the need to report to Sirius because she just walked over to the cupboard and grabbed her own dishes. Harry felt like pouting, but he didn't want to appear too immature.

Sirius pivoted in front of the stove, holding a frying pan in his left hand. With his right he pulled open the drawer next to the stove and took a hot pad. He set the pad and then the pan on the table then pulled out his chair and sat down. Willow opened the fridge and took out the milk, then picked up a bowl of steaming rice and set both on the table. Harry knew they had left the bread in the oven for him, and he opened the oven and then pulled a pan of broiled bread. He left it on the counter because it didn't fit on the table. Sirius and Harry were trying to live as muggle as possible, cooking their own meals from books like Betty Crocker and others. It was actually a lot of fun, or had been until tonight. 

"Harry, we decided to try something they eat often in America and the UK, according to Willow, but originated in China. This mixes vegetables and meats with oil in a frying pan. Some countries use a wok. It's called stir fry." Sirius spoke as he dished up scoops of rice and then put the mix on top of it. Willow did the same and so did Harry. He felt like he was starving. That was probably Willow's fault- he forgot he had skipped lunch earlier. All three ate in relative silence, until Sirius started talking. 

"Willow, why don't you tell Harry about your shop in the square? Harry, its not part of the wizarding world, but it is still a magical shop."

"My shop is called the Magic Box. A friend of mine actually owned one in Sunnydale, California, before the earthquake tore it apart. But we managed to take some of the books and most valuable objects with us." Harry had been tuning her out the first few words, but when she got to 'earthquake', he started paying attention.

"There is another magical group, which I am sure you have heard of, called the Wicca's. I am part of that group, and it is wandless magic where a person draws magic from the earth instead of from their inner core, like wizards. A small part of Wiccan magic can be simply learned by any muggle. The Magic Box caters towards Wiccan magic, learned or otherwise."

Harry had paid close attention to her speech, finding it fascinating. He forgot who he was talking to and the only thing he could find to say was, "Merlin!" Willow just laughed.

It was Harry's turn to wash dishes and he did so pensively, taking his time because he definitely didn't want to spend a lot of extra time with Willow. But even as he thought this, his hand scrubbing circles on the same plate, he wondered about her and her shop. After the minute lesson on wiccan and wand magic, she had repeated Sirius's earlier offer about needing help for the summer and wanting him to have the job. Harry had been shocked, she certainly couldn't actually like him, but wouldn't it be cool to tell the others about a job in an almost muggle shop in London?

A few minutes later, Harry whipped out the rest of the dishes, wanting to make sure they weren't talking about him. Childish, he knew, but he still felt resentful she had popped into his life all the sudden. He whirled into the living room to find them sitting in front of the fire, her legs over Sirius's lap, murmuring quietly. He cleared his throat and they glanced up with raised eyebrows.  
"You want to join us Harry or you want to retire to your own room?" Sirius asked.  
Harry looked at Willow but she seemed content so he slouched down on one of the chairs.  
"Well, I guess that's an answer also." They both smiled at him, then Willow turned around so her back was to Sirius's chest and she was facing Harry.  
"Have you thought anymore about my shop while you were washing dishes?"

"I, um, I...sort of. I have to think about it a little more." Willow peeked up at Sirius and the look grated on Harry's nerves.

"Actually, I just decided I don't need a summer job, I should concentrate on my studies and all that, and, so goodnight now." With that, Harry jumped up and rushed from the room, enjoying their surprised expressions. Take that, he thought. He slowed at the bottom of the stairs and crept back to see if they were going to say anything else. 

"I would have enjoyed working with him, he seems intelligent and curious enough to learn some new things."

"I know, honey, but he seems to be having a hard time making up his mind about things lately, perhaps he'll change his mind again."

"I hope so, because i could use the help and I'm sure Harry would like to learn all the new potions and spells I could have shown him."  
Harry didn't wait another moment, he couldn't take it. His feet pounded back into the living room and he blurted out breathlessly, "I thought about it again and who cares about studies? I think I need to work a little and since nothing else has come up I might as well take you up on your offer, Willow. When do I start?"

He missed the half smiling, sly glance Willow gave Sirius as she said, "How about three days from now at nine o'clock am? I'll bring you with me in the morning because I'll probably stay here." Harry didn't even care that she was going to stay the night, he was just glad he hadn't missed his chance.

"Alright, fine, goodnight then, for real now." Harry charged back out the door and up the stairs to his room, before sprawling on his bed. He put his arms behind his head and smiled up at the ceiling, before crooning, "I'm a working boy."


End file.
